Frame structure



M y 5, 1965 w. LEVY 3,184,802

FRAME STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 8, 1962 FIG. I

Prlor Art FIG. 4

67 INVENTOR WILLIAM LEVY J4 BY i Q-MMKWKL? i 6 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,184,302 FRAME STRUCTURE William Levy, 8333 *Chestnut St, Franklin Square, N.Y. Filed Nov. 8, 1962, Ser. No. 236,327 Claims. (Cl. 20-15) The present invention relates to wooden frames and particularly to such frames employed with removable, decorative inserts.

In the decorative art, there is commonly employed wooden frames in which are supported such items as translucent panels, filagree panels, and'plastic panels having embedded leaves, butterflies, or other decorative materials. Sometimes two or more panels may be employed in combination, such as a filagree panel formed of say, /8" plywood backed by a thin translucent Fiberglas reinforced resin sheet of the order of thickness.

Such paneled frames are widely used for room dividers, screens, cabinet doors, window shutters, bed headboards, displays and the like.

Thus it will be appreciated that this art is highly concerned with the decorative aspects of the article. The frame construction must be such as will not detract from the decorative aspects of the article. In addition, the frames must be designed for easy insertion or removal of the panels for cleaning, painting or other reasons, without employing means to do so which would appear unattractive.

I panels which incorporates the required features, lacking in the prior art, outlined above. A closure member is provided which will not detract from the beauty of the finished panel and yet is easy to manufacture. In addition, the panels may be inserted or removed from the frame simply by removing the closure member which fits snugly into the slot provided, without having to resort to the use of any tools. Furthermore, the closure member completely seals in the panel edges whereas similar devices in the prior art embody a construction having a slot in the top of the frame which tends to be a dust collector, since the end of the frame which receives the panels normally is at the top of the completed unit.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved frame for decorative panels. It is another object of this invention to provide a decorative panel frame which includes a removable outside panel member rto provide access to a decorative insert.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a decorative panel frame including a removable closure member which will not detract from the attractiveness or strength of the completed unit.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved decorative panel frame which is suitable to simple manufacturing processes.

These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will, in part, be pointed out with particularity and will, in part, become obvious from the following more detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which forms an integral part thereof.

In the various figures of the drawing like reference characters designate like parts.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art device showing a panel in phantom.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view shown partially broken away.

,FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an endview of the closure member.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the bottom cross bar of the frame.

Turning now to the drawing, there is depicted in FIG. 1 a prior art frame wherein 114 and 116 represents stiles and 118 and 120, fixed cross bars. It can be seen that after panel 122 has been inserted into groove 124, there will be an open space at that point which tends to collect dust. Furthermore, due to the exposed gap, the end of the frame does not present a solid appearance and therefore detracts from the appearance of the finished product.

Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown the device of the present invention indicated in general by the numeral 19.

The frame forming the subject matter of this invention is comprised of a cross bar 12 positioned at the bottom of the frame when the frame is in its normal operating position. Bottom cross bar 12 is joined at each of its ends to stiles 14 and 16 by any of a number of suitable means well known in the art, such as by mortise and tenon joints or the like. Thus cross bar 12 includes tongues 13 which slidingly engage grooves 26 and 28 prior to being permanently affixed tostiles 14 and 16 by gluing, fasteners, or other suitable means well known in the art. Grooves 26 and 28 slant inwardly at points 15 to thereby provide grooves which are deep enough to permit the engagement of the grooves by tongues 13, since tongues 13 are longer than tongues 52 and 54 or panel closure member 50.

A groove 22 extends along the inner edge 24 of bar 12 and meets grooves 2'5 and 28, coterminous therewith, formed in the inner edges 30 and 32 of stiles 14 and 16, thereby defining a peripheral groove for insertion of a panel 34 and a suitable backing member 64.

Ends 36 and 38 of stiles 14 and 16 have formed therein additional grooves 40 and 42 extending a short distance inwardly towards end bar 12 thereby providing apertures into which tongues 44 and 46 of top cross bar 43 fit. Top cross bar 48 is permanently aflixed to stiles l4 and 16 by gluing, fasteners or other suitable means well known in the art.

A panel closure member 50 geneally rectangular in shape includes tongues 52 and 54 extending outwardly of ends 56 and 58 of the closure member, but integral therewith. Said tongues are generally rectangular in shape and depend inwardly of the front edge 60 of closure members 59 more than half the width of face 62.

It can be understood therefore that tongues 52 and 54 mate with and slidably engage grooves 26 and 28 of stiles 14 and '16, thereby providing a closure member which will, in cooperation with top cross bar 48 and ends 36 and 38 of stiles 14 and 16, present a solid appearing frame end devoid of any dust catching gaps as is common in the prior art.

it will be noted that in addition to the filagree panel 34, shown in FIG. 5, there is enough space provided by grooves 26 and 28 to permit the insertion therein of a translucent sheet, such as Fiberglas reinforced plastic, as a backing. Backing 64 permits soft light to pass through the screen but still diffuses the light sufiiciently to prevent objects on the other side of the screen to be distinguishable to an observer.

There has been provided, therefore, a panel frame which permits the easy insertion or withdrawal there In addifrom of suitable decorative panel members. tion, a means has been provided which permits the sealing of the gap formed by the panel holding grooves which does not detract from the attractive appearance of the decorative panel and in addition, prevents dust from accumulating in the grooves. Furthermore, the design of the frame and closure means lends itself to relatively inexpensive manufacturing processes thereby reducing the cost of the device while still providing an article of quality.

The device of this invention is simpler and less expensive to construct than-the less satisfactory prior art device which required the milling of three side-byside grooves in the stiles, two to receive the tongue portions of the. frame and the third to receive the insert. The present device requires only twogrooves as the groove for the insert also receives tongues 52 and 54 of the closure member.

The prior art device being unsupported at the slot tended to warp and twist. On the other hand, the frame of this invention is rigidly supported.

A further advantage of this invention is that the end of the insert is exposed thereby permitting the insert to be readily grasped by the hand for quick and easy removal.

As may be seen in the drawing, each of the components of the frame is elongated and either substantially square or substantially rectangular in cross section. Each member, namely, the top and bottom cross bars, the stiles and the closure member, has an inner and outer face and an inner and outer edge. By way of definition, the outer face is that contiguous, single planar surface formed by the two stiles and the bottom and top cross bars in the assembled condition. The inner face of the top cross bar is diametrically opposite its outer face and is below the plane of the inner face of the stiles and the bottom cross bar. The inner edge of any of the aforementioned elements. faces the center or panel receiving portion of the frame while the outer edges face away from the panel. The inner edges are those containing the grooves for the decorative panel.

There has been disclosed heretofore the best embodiment of the invention presently contemplated and it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A frame for a decorative panel comprising:

a parallel pair of grooved stile members;

a bottom cross bar joining one end of said pair. of.

stile members, said cross bar having a pair 'of spaced outer faces, a grooved inside edge, and an outside edge, the grooves in said stile members and said bottom cross bar being in the inside edges and in contiguous relationship;

a top cross bar joining the other ends of said stiles and having an outer face in the same plane as the outer faces of said stiles and an inner face level with the edge of the stile grooves, said stile members, said bottom cross bar and said top cross bar defining three complete sides and a partial fourth side of a rectangular rigid frame; and

an elongated closure member removably positioned between said stile members and overlaying saidtop cross bar in the assembled condition, said closure member having an inside edge of the. same dimension as said stile from its outer face to said groove and an outer edge extending from its outer face to said top cross bar, and a pair of tongue members extending from opposed ends, said tongue members being dimensioned to mechanically interlock with the stile grooves said closure member defining the fourth complete side of the rigid frame.

2. The frame of claim 1 wherein said .top cross bar is provided with a pair of tongues received by mating grooves in said stiles.

3. The frame of claim 1 wherein the dimension from the inside edgeto the outside edge of the closure member and said stile members are substantially the same.

4. The frame of claim 1 wherein said bottom cross bar is provided with tongues adapted to fit the stile grooves.

5. A panelframe for holding a decorative panel comprising:

spaced stile members having inner and outer faces, each of said stile members having a longitudinal groove along the inner edge thereof, said grooves being enlarged at one end of each stile member;

a bottom bar rigidly afiixed transversely between said stile members, ,said bottom bar having a longitudinal groove along the inner edge thereof, said groove being in a common plane with the grooves of said stile members;

a top bar having inner and outer faces, said top bar being rigidly afiixed transversely between said stile members, said .topbar having a substantially thinner inner-to-outer .face dimension than said stile members and having a tongue at each end inserted into said enlarged groove at one end of each stile member said stile members, said bottom bar and said top bar defining three complete sides and a partial fourth side of'a rectangular rigid frame; and

a closure member removably positioned between said stile members and overlaying said top'bar in the assembled condition, said closure member having front and rear surfaces and top, and bottom edges defining a substantially rectangular body portion said closure member being further'provided with laterally extending tongues having front and rear surfaces and top .and bottom edges, said tongues depending outwardly along the axis of greatest length of said closure member, said tongues beingrof narrower width between said top and bottom edges than between said body portion top and bottom edges and in a mechanical interlock with the longitudinal grooves at one end of said stiles in the assembled condition, said body portion being substantially thicker than said tongues said closure member defining the -fourthcomplete side of the rigid frame.

References Cited by theExaminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 286,243 10/83 \Veaver 20-15 1,892,492v 12/32 Molner 40-152 2,719,341 10/55 Clerk 2056.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 229,079 2/25 Great Britain.

361,114 11/31 Great Britain.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner. EARL J. WITMER, Examiner. 

1. A FRAME FOR A DECORATIVE PANEL COMPRISING: A PARALLEL PAIR OF GROOVED STILE MEMBERS; A BOTTOM CROSS BAR JOINING ONE END OF SAID PAIR OF STILE MEMBERS, SAID CROSS BAR HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED OUTER FACES, A GROOVED INSIDE EDGE, AND AN OUTSIDE EDGE, THE GROOVES IN SAID STILE MEMBERS AND SAID BOTTOM CROSS BAR BEING IN THE INSIDE EDGES AND IN CONTIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP; A TOP CROSS BAR JOINING THE OTHER ENDS OF SAID STILES AND HAVING AN OUTER FACE IN THE SAME PLANE AS THE OUTER FACES OF SAID STILES AND AN INNER FACE LEVEL WITH THE EDGE OF THE STILE GROOVES, SAID STILE MEMBERS, SAID BOTTOM CROSS BAR AND SAID TOP CROSS BAR DEFINING THREE COMPLETE SIDES AND A PARTIAL FOURTH SIDE OF A RECTANGULAR RIGID FRAME; AND AN ELONGATED CLOSURE MEMBER REMOVABLY POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID STILE MEMBERS AND OVERLAYING SAID TOP CROSS BAR IN THE ASSEMBLED CONDITION, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER HAVING AN INSIDE EDGE OF THE SAME DIMENSION AS SAID STILE FROM ITS OUTER FACE TO SAID GROOVE AND AN OUTER EDGE EXTENDING FROM ITS OUTER FACE TO SAID TOP CROSS BAR, AND A PAIR OF TONGUE MEMBERS EXTENDING FROM OPPOSED ENDS, SAID TONGUE MEMBERS BEING DIMENSIONED TO MECHANICALLY INTERLOCK WITH THE STILE GROOVES SAID CLOSURE MEMBER DEFINING THE FOURTH COMPLETE SIDE OF THE RIGID FRAME. 